There are more than 250,000 flowering plants in the world. The term
“Angiosperm” describes the group of flowering plants — it comes from
Greek words which indicate that these plants have seeds enclosed in
an ovary; the ovule becomes the seed ( see generalised flower diagram
below ). Two sub-groups exist: monocotyledons and dicotyledons.

AN INCREDIBLE SHINE EFFECT
on some flower petals is due to the
petal’s starch layer.

• Flower parts are in fours or fives.
• Two cotyledons ( seed leaves ) in the
seed.

Ovule

INSECTS SEE mainly blue, yellow
and ultra-violet. It’s estimated that
between 65-80% of flowers are
pollinated by insects.

• Leaves with net-like veins.

Sepal

• Stem with vascular bundles around the
inside circle of the stem.

Petal

Receptacle

WHAT DO PLANTS NEED?

LANDING INSTRUCTIONS

Sunlight is needed to power the manufacture of food, so the thin,
flat shape of leaves maximises their exposure to light, in order
to capture it. Photosynthesis is the process by which sugars are
produced for food. The part of the cell that makes food is the
chloroplast, and this contains the green pigment chlorophyll,
which absorbs sunlight. One leaf cell may contain up to 100
chloroplasts, all acting like tiny solar panels. Vital nutrients such
as mineral salts are absorbed through roots from the soil and
transported by water up the stems to the leaves. Carbon dioxide
is taken up from the atmosphere, through breathing holes called
stomata in the leaves. Oxygen is “breathed out” as a by-product.

Over 50% of flowers have markings, like a runway or spots, to
show bees and butterflies where to land: these point the way
to nectar. Pale flowers sometimes have invisible honey guides
which are only visible under ultraviolet light. Because insects
have ultraviolet vision, they can see the pathways on flowers.
Below, top to bottom: Flowers of Eurasian Potentilla anserina as
seen by humans in natural light; And under ultraviolet ( UV ) light.
Pollinating insects are guided by the strong UV “bull’s eye” pattern.

In 1765 Swedish botanist, Carolus Linnaeus, introduced
what came to be called the “Linnaean system” — a
universal method of classification and naming of each living
organism, based on Latin or Greek words that describe it.
Such a universal system helps botanists from all over the world
understand and communicate with each other even though they
may not speak the same language. You will notice that each plant
included in this book has several names: a family name, a common or
indigenous name and a botanical name.

BOTANICAL NAME

COMMON NAME

Each plant is given a two-word botanical
name; the first is the “genus” and the
second the “species”. In this book you will
see botanical names in italics. In scientific
journals, a botanical name for a plant will
include a third name showing the person
who named the species.

When an individual plant is given a special
common name, capital letters are used for
each word, such as Sturt’s Desert Pea. A
plant may have more than one common
name, as people in different areas adopt
their own names for plants.

GENUS ( PLURAL GENERA ): The first
word of the name places the plant in a
genus with other plants closely related to
it. This generic name always begins with a
capital letter.
A group of species in one genus is
often given a common name, such as
“Kangaroo Paws” for the species in the
Anigozanthus genus, or “Wattles” for the
species in the Acacia genus.
SPECIES: The second word of the
botanical name gives the plant its own
species name. This specific name always
begins with a lower-case letter.

INDIGENOUS NAMES: There are many
Aboriginal languages in Australia and the
same plant may have different names in
different parts of Australia.

FAMILY NAME
A family name is given to a collection of
genera having general characteristics.
Myrtaceae, the most dominant plant family
in Australia, has 1646 species represented
by 70 genera, including Eucalyptus,
Kunzea, Leptospermum, Melaleuca and
Verticordia. Characteristics that group
these genera include having leaves with oil
glands and gumnuts.

Below, left to right: Ashby’s Banksia; Round-leafed Tea-tree.

Above: Pearfruited Mallee.

the
FACTS!
BOTANY is the science of plants.
People who study plants are
scientists called botanists.
TAXONOMISTS are botanists who
classify and name plants.
A HERBARIUM houses collections
of dried specimens of plants.
DNA SEQUENCING has changed
the process of plant classification
and naming. It has been revealing
unexpected evolutionary
relationships.
SCIENTISTS HAVE A VERY
complex job trying to decide how
different plants are related to each
other — or not. Naming of plants
reflects what people think about
these relationships. As technology
gives us more tools, and science
advances, so names change.
This means that anybody who is
interested in plants has a lifelong
task keeping abreast of name
changes!

BJØRN RØRSLETT/NN/NÆRFOTO

MAGIC SEEDS
Many Australian seeds have evolved to remain dormant
until conditions are right for germination. Some wait for rain,
and others need a bushfire. Scientists have found a “magic”
ingredient — the chemical butenolide in smoke ( even when cold )
is able to break seed dormancy. It helps activate growth of over
400 native plants.

Conservation Watch
Land clearing, picking from the wild for the cut
flower industry, climate change and the dreaded
disease Cinnamon Fungus ( Phytophthora
cinnamomi ) are all threats to banksias.

— sweet, showy & tough
Family: Proteaceae
Genus: Banksia

Above: A New Holland Honeyeater on a
banksia flower.

the
FACTS!
HONEYEATER TONGUE and
banksia flower shapes match, to
show a long relationship. Scientists
think they evolved closely together.
HONEY-FLAVOURED NECTAR
is abundant in banksia flowers,
providing a great feast for birds and
small marsupials. In return, these
visitors are dusted with pollen which
they transfer to other flowers.

Australia has 77 species of
Banksia. They are named after
Sir Joseph Banks ( 1743–1820 )
who voyaged with Captain James
Cook on the ship Endeavour.
As they explored the east
coast of Australia in 1770, they
collected specimens of Australian
plants. Banks collected Saw
Leaf Banksia ( Banksia serrata )
which grows in coastal areas of
Queensland, New South Wales,
Victoria and Tasmania, and it
became the first Banksia to be
officially named.

AUSTRALIAN AUTHOR May
Gibbs wrote of a grotesque and
scary character in her famous
children’s book Snugglepot and
Cuddlepie. She turned a hairy
hobgoblin “cone” from Banksia
serrata into the character, “Big Bad
Banksia Man”.

Charles Denison King AM ( 1909-1991 ), was passionately interested in the flora of
Tasmania during his lifetime. Deep in one of Tasmania’s mines he found a 38,000year-old banksia “cone” which had been preserved in a sedimentary layer.
This banksia relic was discovered to be from an extinct species which was named
Banksia kingii to honour “Deny” King.

Above: Scarlet Banksia
( Banksia coccinea ).

BANKSIA “CONES” —
FIREPROOF CAPSULES

GREG HARM/SPP

NECTAR-FEEDING BIRDS such
as Lorikeets and Silvereyes follow
the flowering seasons of different
Banksia spp., constantly seeking the
next place to feed.
MOONLIGHT DINING by possums
and bats is greatly assisted by
banksias with light and bright
blooms that show up at night.

Banksias

Banksias

Banksias

WHAT A USEFUL PLANT
Aboriginal people from Groote Eylandt and
the Top End had several uses for Swamp
Banksia ( B. dentata ). Flowers gave them
nectar to eat and to mix with water for a
sweet drink. Dry old cones were smeared
with animal fat and set alight to use as
torches or to transfer fire. Old cones were
even used as hairbrushes.

Most banksia “cones” are incredibly
tough — to stop animals and birds
from eating their seeds. Many hold
their seeds firmly enclosed until a
bushfire rages through the stand of
shrubs or trees. Chemicals in smoke
promote germination of the seeds.
After the heat has forced the “lips”
of the follicles to open up like little
“mouths” ( right ) so the seeds can fall
out, with superb timing, onto an ash
bed. The perfect place to grow.

Right: Detail of open follicles on a
banksia “cone”.
Below, left to right: Cutleaf Banksia ( Banksia praemorsa ) is native to Western Australia. The flowers’
odour is said to smell like rotten meat pies; Acorn Banksia ( Banksia prionotes ).

Yellow Sticky – SL

In the Grampians, banksia flowers were
used to filter muddy water
Early settlers in south-eastern areas made
bullock yokes from the timber of Coastal
Banksia ( B. integrifolia ).
Far left: A Honey Possum sips banksia nectar
with its brush-tipped tongue.
Left: Coastal Banksia ( Banksia integrifolia )
is the floral emblem of the City of Frankston,
Victoria.

Text: Cathy Hope. Uncredited photography: Steve Parish

ACORN BANKSIA ( B. prionotes,
left ) has flowers shaped like acorns
from an oak tree.
“BIRTHDAY CANDLES” is a
Banksia sp. cultivar available from
plant nurseries.

Australia has four species of pitcher plant. “Pitcher” is another name for
a jug. Some plants’ pitchers are as big as a jug and others’ are as small
as a cap on a marking pen. Passive trapping by a pitcher is just one of
five ways that carnivorous plants have found to catch food.

The sundews’ approach to carnivory is to use sticky mucilage to trap
insects. The glistening drops of mucilage give them their common
name. Australia has about 70 of the world’s approximately 100
species, and Australia and New Zealand share some species. Almost
three-quarters of world sundew species are found in Western Australia,
and central Australia’s desert has two species found near waterholes.

These weird plants thrill people with their
seemingly un-plantlike taste for luring,
trapping and consuming juicy insects
— and occasionally even small animals.

SINISTER SUNDEWS

Above: Close up of rim of pitcher and insect.

the
FACTS!

Below, top to bottom: Pitcher plant Nepenthes
mirabilis grows beside streams in tropical areas
of Queensland such as Cape York Peninsula.
Plants often climb around other vegetation
for support and produce quite large pitchers,
which grow to about 20 cm.

FOUR PITCHER PLANT species
are native to Australia, and they
belong to two different families.
SOME PEOPLE grow carnivorous
plants as an environmentally friendly
way to reduce insects in the house.
Pitcher plants are excellent fly and
ant-catchers and Sundews can
capture pesky mosquitoes.
THE PITCHER MIMICS a flower,
and so tricks insects into landing
and falling in. Actually the pitcher
structure is a modified leaf.
A PITCHER’S LID is normally
open, but can be shut during hot
weather to stop evaporation and to
keep out excessive rain.
SOME TINY TREE-FROGS are
remarkable in that they make a
home inside a pitcher plant. They
somehow avoid being digested
by the plant, and live by snatching
insects that fall into the pitcher.

Text: Cathy Hope. Uncredited photography: Steve Parish

— nature’s flypapers

One of the world’s most important Bladderwort wetland
habitats is right here in Australia. South of Darwin,
36 species of Bladderwort live on the floodplains of
Koolpinyah Sand Sheet. This habitat is threatened by
mining of sand for building.

Australian pitcher plants live in wet, grassy
areas, savannas and swamps — often
at forest or creek margins. Swampy soils
are poor in nutrients, so the plants need
another source of energy. The solution
to their problem is to gain nitrogen and
protein by luring, trapping, drowning and
digesting animals that provide a healthy
feast. Scent that humans can’t smell
attracts unwary visitors to the rim of the
pitcher. They are tempted inside to sweet
nectar — and a slippery, waxy surface. All
of a sudden they lose their grip and slide
down into a watery grave. The struggling
creature stimulates the pitcher to produce
digestive juices to dissolve the corpse.
Alternatively bacteria break down the body.

In Australia, sundews grow in
mossy, damp conditions in a
range of habitats from alpine to
tropical. These bizarre plants
lure insects to their death. When
an insect lands on a leaf, it is
captured and imprisoned by
the sticky “tentacle-like” hairs
that bend over and squash the
insect against the leaf. Insects
are dissolved into a liquid that the
plant can absorb.

Above: Pink Rainbow Sundew
( Drosera menziesii ).

the
FACTS!
AUSTRALIA HAS about 60 of the
world’s 214 species of Bladderworts
— in the genus Utricularia belonging
to the Lentibulariaceae family.
FLOWERS have an “apron-like”
lip and appear in colours including
white, yellow, pink, blue and purple.

Alpine Sundew ( Drosera arcturi )
flowers in midsummer in damp,
mossy alpine areas of Tas, Vic
and NSW in Australia and also
in New Zealand. In Tasmania it
is often found growing amongst
Cushion Plants.
Below: A unique point about Red Ink Sundew ( Drosera erythrorhiza ) is that the flowers grow in the
earth before being exposed to the light. The plant has a bright red underground tuber. Large groups
of Red Ink Sundews grow in sandy areas between Three Springs and Ongerup in Western Australia.

THE BUBBLE-LIKE BLADDERS
of Bladderworts have “trapdoors”.
This way of trapping food is praised
as the cleverest of any plant. When
a tiny creature hits a guide hair,
the hair’s movement breaks the
trapdoor seal. There is no escape;
the trapdoor springs open, water
rushes into the bladder carrying the
creature, and the door shuts, locking
the prisoner in. Chemicals in the
bladder dissolve the body, so the
plant can absorb its nutrients.

TREE FERNS
Tree ferns are only endemic to countries
in the Southern Hemisphere. Tree ferns of
the Dicksonia genus were widespread on
the southern supercontinent Gondwana
about 200 million years ago, and Australia
now has three of the world’s 25 Dicksonia
species. Soft Tree Fern ( Dicksonia
antarctica ) grows to a height of 15 metres
in moist mountain gullies and misty damp
rainforests.

Above: Crow’s Nest Fern ( Asplenium
australasicum ), abundant in rainforests
throughout Australia and the South
Pacific, is most often found growing
high up on other vines or trees. These
light-seeking, epiphytic plants are not
parasites — as they collect their own
food and water for survival. Ferns like
these provide habitats for invertebrates
and great basking places for large
pythons.

“THE PTERIDOPHYTES” is the
group to which all the ferns belong.
Australia has over 400 of the world’s
approximately 10,000 fern species.
LOOK UNDERNEATH a fern frond.
The little spots you see are spore
cases, which will break open when
mature, releasing fine spores to be
windblown to other locations.
SPORE PRODUCTION is a
very primitive method of plant
reproduction. Ferns do not develop
flowers to produce seeds.
A TINY SPORE develops a small
flat, heart-shaped plant called a
prothallus from which the new fern
develops.
A “FIDDLEHEAD” is the name
given to the tightly curled frond of
new fern growth — because it looks
like the handle of a violin or fiddle.
AUSTRALIA’S KING FERN
( Angiopteris evecta ), is said to have
the largest fronds in the world, at
seven metres. King Fern is rare,
growing only at Carnarvon Gorge,
Fraser Island and few Qld localities.

Aborigines were very careful not to kill tree ferns, and instead of harvesting the
fronds, they opened up the top half of the stem to remove the starchy pith. This
contains 12% carbohydrate and can be eaten raw or cooked. Aboriginal people
in Australia and Maoris in New Zealand knew not to eat the poisonous green
fronds of Bracken, but dug up the rhizomes, which contain mucilaginous starch, to
prepare as a staple food.

Australia’s richest fern habitat, which showcases about 65% of
Australia’s fern species, occurs in the wet tropical rainforests of
Queensland, such as the Daintree. This fern flora amounts to about
240 species with at least 46 endemic to the Queensland rainforests.
Ferns don’t feature to the same extent in Western Australia, where
there are about 50 species. Ferns contribute greatly to the health of
rainforests by helping to maintain humidity, by adding organic matter
to the soil and by providing shelter for living creatures.

Top: Tree ferns around Russell Falls in Mt Field
National Park, Tasmania.
Right: Orange-eyed Tree-frogs live amongst
tree ferns in the canopy of moist, warm
rainforests. These frogs gather in large
numbers on the fronds of tree ferns where the
males compete against each other, croaking
their mating calls during a breeding frenzy.

ANCIENT FOSSIL FERNS

Below: Bracken Fern ( Pteridium esculentum ).

True ferns evolved about 325 million years ago, during
the Carboniferous Period, but even older fossils
have been found, including one from Einasleigh
in Queensland, dated at 340 million years old.
Fossils from the later Permian Period include the
255-million-year-old trunk of a tree fern found at
Blackwater in Queensland, and
a 220-million-year-old
Fork-frond Seed Fern,
Dicroidium zuberi, from
Dubbo in New South Wales.

THOUGH BRACKEN FERN
( Pteridium esculentum ) is a native of
Australia and New Zealand, it acts
as a noxious weed due to alteration
of its habitat. It grows aggressively
on cleared land.
THE POISON PTAQUILOSIDE
is found in Bracken fronds, as
an evolutionary defence against
insects. The poison is a type of
cyanide. Cattle eating bracken
risk developing cancer tumours in
their bladder and haemorrhages
throughout their body due to bone
marrow damage. Horses eating
bracken may develop nervous
symptoms as the poison causes a
thiamine deficiency.
JUICE FROM BRACKEN STEMS
is thought to give relief from insect
bites, especially bull-ant bites.
BRACKEN FROND MATTRESSES
were made by early settlers and
drovers for camping.

QUEENSLAND MUSEUM

the
FACTS!

FERNS FOR FOOD

the
FACTS!

Above: Petrified tree fern trunk.
Left: Coral fern ( Gleichenia microphylla ) is found
along waterways and in swamps in New Zealand,
Malaysia and in every State of Australia except
the Northern Territory. Stockmen, campers
and mountain hikers in Tasmanian alpine areas
have been known to gather the fronds to make
temporary dry beds, often directly on top of the
snow.

Conservation Watch
For years tree ferns have been at risk
— raided from their natural habitat for the
nursery trade. Such removal is now illegal.
Trees sold must carry a registration number.

Fungi

The introduced, red-capped toadstool with white spots is the
“fairytale” fungus Fly Agaric ( Amanita muscaria, left ) seen
in children’s storybooks. This feral fungus grows in pine
plantations. It may threaten native fungi if it spreads into
native forests.

L
K E N S TE P N E

Kingdom: Fungi

OVER ONE MILLION SPECIES of
fungi are thought to exist globally.
Australia has well over 150,000
species, although fewer than 5%
have been scientifically described.
PARTNERSHIP with underground
fungi is the way of life for more than
75% of the world’s plants.
ALMOST EVERY COLOUR of
fungus occurs, though rarely green
— they don’t need the chlorophyll of
green plants to make their food.

YEAST IS A FRIENDLY FUNGUS
used all over the world for bread,
cheese, beer and wine making.
Yeast is a single-celled organism.
TINEA, RINGWORM and dandruff
are parasitic fungi that depend on
humans and other animals for their
survival. Damp, dark toe spaces are
perfect for foot fungi to make tinea.

Right: At night in southern Australian
forests you may see an eerie green light.
The poisonous Ghost Fungus ( Omphalotus
nidiformis ) makes a luminous glow, caused by
a chemical reaction between fungal enzymes
and oxygen. Below: A species of Geastrum.

WALLABIES, POTOROOS ( below )
and bettongs sniff out, dig up and
snack on truffle-like fungi as one of
their favourite foods.

Right: Golden Curtain Crust ( Stereum
ostrea ) lives on stumps and fallen trees
and can be found fruiting at any time
of the year in rainforests around the
east coast from northern Queensland to
Victoria and Tasmania.

the
FACTS!
THE ANTIBIOTIC PENICILLIN
is made from a fungus, Penicillium
chrysogenum. This fungus has
saved many human lives.

ALL HABITATS in Australia, from the
coast to alpine areas, support fungal life.
Fungi appear in the desert after good
rain. In northern Australia fungi appear in
warm rainforests during the wet season;
in temperate areas the main season is
March until July. You might even find some
popping up in your garden.

THE GILLS OF one mushroom may
hold many millions of microscopic
spores. The fruit of a fungus expels
spores for reproduction of the
species. Spores are carried away
by wind, water, insects, birds and
animals to begin a new life.

Fungi form a huge group of organisms, with their own Kingdom. Fungi
do not have leaves, stems or roots. They can live without oxygen
and need no light as they don’t manufacture food. Most fungi have
a multi-celled body ( mycelium ), which is a network of microscopic
threads ( hyphae ). A mycelium acts to find and process food and to
produce fruit. Many fungi live a life underground, or hidden in debris,
until perfect conditions occur, and we see the fruiting body emerge.

Fungi have such an important role. They
help each plant habitat maintain a finely
balanced ecosystem. All Australian forests
have a thick mat of fungal underlay
beneath the soil. Rainforests and tall
eucalypt forests provide dark damp places
with lots of plant litter such as fallen trees,
old stumps and leaves. Fungi decompose
this organic matter really quickly by
smothering it with strong acids to recycle
it into nutrients for themselves and other
plants. Some fungi even recycle the dead
bodies of insects and animals, and others
prefer animal droppings.

RIGHTT: GREG HARM

Fungi

— hard at work

PONGS AND PERFUME

HOMESICK FOREST
Over one million hectares of
Australian eucalypts are grown
in China, mainly for timber. Early
plantations wouldn’t grow as fast
as they do in Australia. What was
wrong? In Australia, eucalypts
have a special partnership with
ectomycorrhizal fungi. These fungi
provide water and nutrients to the
trees and in return the trees give
fungi carbon. Eucalypt seedlings in
China were inoculated with spore
and they began to grow twice as
quickly.

Fungi smells can be sweet or sour, great or
gross. Many humans love the smell of the
edible mushroom, Agaricus campestris.
Wrinkled Cage ( Ileodictyon cibarium ) found
in native forests of southern Australia looks
like a white hollow soccer ball and smells
like cheese or sour milk. Stinky smells of
rotting meat are a trick used by stinkhorn
fungus species to attract flies.
Beware of Splitgill ( Schizophyllum
commune ), a very common white
fan-shaped fungus, which grows on
deadwood. It is thought that the disease
basidioneuromycosis can be caught by
accidentally sniffing up the spores while
smelling its odour.

HORSE DROPPING FUNGUS, a
Pisolithus species, is eaten by the
Pintupi and Anmatjirra Aborigines of
Central Australia.
INDIGENOUS PEOPLE of south–
east Australia eat Native Bread
( Laccocephalum mylittae ), which
fruits after bushfires. When the
ground suddenly pushed upwards,
they would dig up a soccer ballsized treat that looks like bread and,
some say, tastes like boiled rice.

Conservation Watch
164 species of Grevillea in Australia are considered to be
Endangered, Rare or Threatened. Mt Annan Botanic Garden in
New South Wales propagates threatened species, cloning them
by tissue culture. A large collection of 283 Grevillea species,
which includes 44 threatened species, is grown at Mt Annan.

— a gardener’s favourite
Family: Proteaceae
Genus: Grevillea

POLLEN PRESENTERS
Grevillea spp., often called
“Spider Flowers” are popular
in Australian gardens for their
incredible range of varieties.
Grevillea spp. is the third largest
genus in Australia with over
350 species. These species
have showy, bird-attracting
inflorescences ( blooms ) that
glisten with nectar. Most
blooms have up to a hundred
or more tiny flowers artistically
arranged in shapes described
as spider, toothbrush, comb and
bottlebrush. Leaves are also
extremely diverse, ranging from
fern, to feather, holly, star, rush
and pine needle shapes.

Above: A Scaly-breasted Lorikeet
taking nectar from a grevillea.

the
FACTS!

Each grevillea bud is a power-packed flower package. The developing female part of the
flower, a very long style, is tightly curled up with its stigma firmly held between the two
sets of pollen producing male organs, the anthers. When the flower is ready to open,
tension within the style causes it to uncurl, and the pollen-dusted stigma breaks free from
the anthers. The curved style springs into position so its stigma acts as a pollen presenter,
taking a male role, to dab pollen on the head of any nectar-seeking bird. Then the stigma
reverts to a female role and becomes quite sticky and ready to be fertilised by pollen,
which arrives from other flowers on the heads of birds.

FIX-IT GUM
Warlpiri people, in their
traditional life, sometimes
made cement to repair their
tools, using red gum from
Beefwood ( Grevillea striata ).
After collecting the gum, it
was heated and mixed with
kangaroo dung. Indigenous
people believed in the healing
powers of Beefwood gum,
which was diluted in water to
apply to burns and sores.

STANLEY BREEDEN

TENS OF MILLIONS OF YEARS
ago, nectar-feeding honeyeaters
evolved along with the flowering
plants of the Proteaceae family,
which includes grevilleas. The two
needed each other for survival.
A NEW HOLLAND HONEYEATER
takes nectar from fifteen to 100
flowers per minute. Honeyeaters
have curved beaks and
brush-tipped tongues.
Above: The tiny, 10 g Eastern Spinebill
extracting nectar from grevillea flowers.

NATURE ORGANISED most
grevillea flowers in shades of pink,
red, apricot, orange, yellow and
gold to match the needs of nectarfeeding birds like the honeyeaters.
It’s thought that red and yellow are
the colours best seen by birds.
FRIARBIRDS, named after Friar
monks, have evolved a bald patch
on their head. This adaptation
prevents feathers getting sticky from
nectar and pollen. Little Friarbirds
and Silver-crowned Friarbirds take
nectar from Fern-leafed Grevillea
( Grevillea pteridifolia ) in places like
Kakadu, on the seasonally flooded
grassy flats.

Text: Cathy Hope. Uncredited photography: Steve Parish

Grevilleas

Grevilleas

Grevilleas

NECTAR ROBBERS

Above, top to bottom: A range of grevillea
flower shapes.

During the evolutionary process, grevillea
flower shapes adapted to suit nectarseeking birds, not bees. Flowers feature
a barrier of hairs inside them, to prevent
the small Australian native bees reaching
the nectar. Since the larger, introduced
bees have entered Australia, they have
robbed nectar by pushing their way
through the barrier of hairs. They steal
nectar which is intended for birds and
interrupt the fertilisation of the plant.

GREVILLEA “SEEDBANKS”
Ants assist between one-third and half of all Australian native plants to propagate. Seed
from many Grevillea spp. is dragged by worker ants into underground nests and they
eat the fleshy appendages, called elaiosomes, on the seeds.
By doing this, the ants are helping ensure the future of
the plants, by safely storing seeds underground in
a “seedbank”. Soon after bushfires have swept
through a grevillea habitat, seedlings of the
grevillea emerge, often from an ant’s nest.
Ants are often observed carrying away
the sticky seed pods and seeds of
Dryander’s Grevillea ( Grevillea dryandri )
of WA and NT.
Right: Dryander’s Grevillea
( Grevillea dryandri ).

Above: Pitjantjatjara people of Central
Australia collect the dry seed pods
from Rattlepod Grevillea ( Grevillea
stenobotrya ), shaking them as a
musical instrument when they are
performing a ceremonial dance.

the
FACTS!
TIMBER FROM BEEFWOOD
( Grevillea striata ), was split and used
for roof shingles by early settlers.
This timber is still used for fence
posts. Beefwood grows in Northern
Australia and is known in the Ross
River region. Cattle graze on the
foliage of Beefwood.
“SPIDERMAN” GREVILLEA is
much sought after as a cut flower,
and is grown on a large scale in
Israel for the European market.
SOUTHERN SILKY OAK, ( Grevillea
robusta ) Australia’s tallest grevillea,
is plantation grown in South Africa.
CSIRO SCIENTISTS have found
that grevillea seeds have a high
concentration of mineral nutrients
even though they grow in poor
soils. Indigenous people in
Central Australia have
known for thousands of
years that the seeds
of some Grevillea
species can be
eaten raw.

The gum tree is a symbol of Australia, showing superb adaptation to
a wide range of climates and conditions in all corners of the continent.
Eucalypts made Australia home millions of years ago, by successfully
colonising suitable habitats and developing features to help them
tolerate floods, fire, drought and poor soils. Australia has approximately
850 eucalypt species with many diverse groups including Bloodwoods,
Stringybarks, Box Gums and Peppermints. Some species are widely
distributed and represented in different habitats. Others have a
restricted distribution and some are endangered species. Eucalypts are
found at the coast, up to the snowline in high alpine areas, spread out
over the plains and into the arid inland.
Above: Tasmanian Blue Gum blossom.
Right: The eucalpyts thrive in a wide
range of climate zones, from arid to
alpine.

the
FACTS!
ANTARCTICA HAS GIVEN US
fossilised pollen from the extremely
old plant family Myrtaceae, to which
eucalypts belong. Australia has
1645 of the world’s 3000 species in
this family.
DNA RESEARCH tells us that
the ancestors of today’s eucalypts
developed about 70 million years
ago in moist rainforests.
91 EUCALYPT SPECIES are
found in the Greater Blue Mountains
region. This area is thought to be the
place where eucalypts first evolved.
FOSSILISED EUCALYPT LEAVES
from the Tertiary period found in
south-west Australia, and pollen
from the Torrens Basin in Central
Australia, have been dated at 45
million years of age.
EUCALYPTUS CURTISII, a
bloodwood of south–eastern
Queensland, is Australia’s most
primitive eucalypt.

HIGHRISE LIVING
River Red Gum ( Eucalyptus camaldulensis )
is the most widely distributed gum tree in
Australia and is found anywhere there is a
waterway or old riverbed. River Red Gums’
survival is dependent on a flood every so
often.
Barmah Forest beside the Murray River
on the Victoria–New South Wales border
is the biggest native forest of River Red
Gums in the world. Some of the trees
are over 40 m high and 500 years old.
These tall gum trees are especially suited
to highrise living, they are the apartment
blocks of the river. Roots growing in the
water offer basement living for small
fish and frogs. Exposed roots provide
perches for cormorants and other birds
as they wait for fish to appear. Leaves are
homes for aphids, lerps, saw-flies and
numerous caterpillars. Bark is a hideaway
for ladybirds, beetles, insects and lizards.
Rosellas, cockatoos, galahs, owls and
kookaburras nest in hollows, which also
make good hives for native bees to store
honey. Flocks of Little Corellas rest on
branches. But kites and eagles have the
penthouse positions, their nests are the
highest homes.

Above: Marri ( Corymbia calophylla ).

the
FACTS!
MOTTLECAH ( Eucalyptus
macrocarpa ) has a flower the size of
a small ball. It’s the largest flower of
any gum tree.
EVERY GUM NUT has a cap called
an operculum. The blossom is
tucked inside the gum nut until the
force of hundreds of stamens pop
the cap off ( below ).

Above: River Red Gums on the Ovens River,
Victoria.

MALARIA CONTROL
FLORAL EMBLEM
Tasmanian Blue Gum ( Eucalyptus globulus ) is Tasmania’s floral emblem. These tall
forest trees are native to the east coast of Tasmania, King and Flinders Islands and
the Otway Ranges and Wilson’s Promontory in Victoria.
Over 450,000 hectares of Tasmanian Blue Gums are growing in plantations on
land that used to grow crops and pasture. This fast growing hardwood is suitable
for timber and pulp production. Remnant vegetation is included in some of these
plantings. Blue gums will not thrive in arid areas and must have an annual rainfall
of more than 600 mm. Tasmanian Blue Gums in coastal areas of California have
been grown there for over one hundred years, and many people mistake them for
Californian native trees.

Over a hundred years ago many trees of Tasmanian Blue Gum ( Eucalyptus
globulus ) and River Red Gum ( Eucalyptus camaldulensis, below ) were planted
in marshes of Italy and Israel to drain water that attracts mosquitoes and breeds
malaria. River Red Gum’s species name comes from the town Camalduli in Italy.

BEES MAKE DELICIOUS HONEY
from the nectar of many species of
gum blossom, such as Yellow Box,
Red Gum, Mallee and Sugar Gum.
BEES, BUTTERFLIES and birds
take nectar from gum blossoms
during the day. At night, possums
and flying-foxes have a turn.
ANIMAL VISITORS GET DUSTED
with pollen and, without realising it,
do the tree a favour by transferring
the pollen to another flowering gum
tree for fertilisation.

Conservation Watch
Satellites take photographs of coastlines, and these
can be used to monitor the health and extent of
seagrass meadows and mangroves.

— all at sea
Above: Bull kelp and fish amongst kelp.

A GLASSFUL OF SEAWATER
contains hundreds of different
types of microscopic single-celled
phytoplankton. “Phyto” is from
Greek and means “plant”.
NEARLY HALF of Earth’s oxygen
is produced by ocean-living
phytoplankton.
EARTH’S TEMPERATURE is
cooler when plenty of phytoplankton
are using up carbon dioxide.
NEAR THE SEA’S SURFACE is
where phytoplankton need to be to
harvest sunlight for photosynthesis.
Plankton protect themselves
from harmful ultraviolet rays by
manufacturing their own sunscreen.
PHYTOPLANKTON THRIVE when
plenty of recycling nutrients ( from
dead, decomposing sealife ) rise to
the surface from the bottom of the
sea. Where this happens, the vast
numbers of phytoplankton make the
sea look green.
THE PETROL WE USE for cars,
houses and factories comes
from crude oil, which has been
forming over millions of years in
sediment at the ocean floor. When
phytoplankton die, their millions of
tiny bodies break down to form oil.
ZOOPLANKTON ( tiny
single-celled animals )
eat phytoplankton. So
do shellfish, corals,
sponges and sea jellies.
Phytoplankton are
perfect “baby food”
for young fish.

Right: “Bull Kelp” is the
name given to living
species in several genera,
but all live along wildweather coasts.

Text: Cathy Hope. Uncredited photography: Steve Parish

SEAGRASS

SEAWEEDS
Above: Seahorse in a seagrass “meadow”.

Seaweeds are the larger marine algae,
so are plants without flowers, adapted to
turbulent seas. Many attach themselves
to rocks with strong holdfasts and their
fronds have built-in flotation bladders.

Below, top and bottom: Dugongs are
“the cows of the sea”, grazing tropical
seagrasses. An adult can eat up to 28 kg
per day; A mangrove tree’s snorkel-like
roots rise from the mud, obtaining oxygen
for the tree in a waterlogged environment.

Bright green “Chlorophyta” are found in
the intertidal zone, in places like rockpools
that are underwater during high tide but
exposed during low tide. Tropical areas
have the most green seaweed.
Brown algae “Phaeophyta” and red algae
“Rhodophyta”, growing in deeper water,
create the ocean’s forests which provide
shelter, food and oxygen for many sea
creatures. Bull Kelp is a massive brown
alga, growing up to five metres tall, with
long, leather-like straps. Tasmania’s
King Island has a Bull Kelp ( Durvillaea
potatorum ) industry supplying 5% of the
world’s requirements of alginates. This
substance is extracted from dried kelp
for many uses, including the thickening of
milkshakes, ice-cream, and fruit juices.

Seagrass is not a real “grass”, but is a very
special flowering plant — in fact the only
representative of the angiosperms that lives
in seawater. Seagrass used to be a land plant
about 100 million years ago. Now there are 58
sea-living species, with over 30 in Australian
coastal waters. Australia’s west coast, with 27
species, is the site of one of the world’s largest
seagrass areas. Seagrass needs sunlight to
thrive. Pollution from shipping, dredging and
mining activities, run-off of agricultural and
industrial waste and human sewage all cause
sediment build-up which can reduce the light
seagrass needs and cause it to die.

Above: Mangrove stems and roots,
widely spaced or intricately tangled,
provide vital shelter for young fish to
improve their chances of surviving to
adulthood.

SEAGRASS MEADOWS, found right around Australia’s coastline, provide a
protected habitat for seahorses, seadragons, juvenile fish, crayfish larvae, prawns,
turtles and dugongs. There are human uses for seagrass too. Dried, woven
seagrass makes excellent mats for use in sand dune rehabilitation programs. At
Kingston, in South Australia, dried seagrass Posidonia australis is harvested from
beaches to make liquid plant fertiliser.

Above: Seals and kelp need similar habitat.

HEALING POWERS
About twenty years ago the
seaweed, Wakame ( Undaria
pinnatifida ) appeared in Australia’s
coastal waters and has since
been declared a marine pest. It
is thought to have arrived in the
ballast of a Northern Hemisphere
ship collecting wood chip. A
company on the east coast of
Tasmania is harvesting this brown
alga, and processing it to extract
potent anti-virals called fucoidans
which help sufferers of HIV, Herpes
Simplex and Influenza A and B.

the
FACTS!

BOB HALSTEAD/OCEANWIDE IMAGES

the
FACTS!

The world’s oceans, where life began, have more than 25,000 species
of seaweed. There are 1300 described species in Australia, but it
is estimated that over 2000 species exist. Seaweeds belong to the
Kingdom Protista. Plants living in the sea need sunlight to carry out
photosynthesis, so live as close to the surface of the sea as they can.
The bubbles they release as a waste product are oxygen. Seaweeds
are not found any deeper than 30 m.

FORESTS OF MANGROVES
cover 11,600 sq km of Australia,
protecting and stabilising parts
of the coastline by absorbing the
energy from stormy winds and
waves, and holding mud and sand
in place. Australia has about 35 of
the world’s 65 mangrove species.
Only two are considered endemic.
FISH DEPEND ON MANGROVES.
They use these nurturing habitats
as nurseries for their young. Many
shrimps, crabs, worms, shellfish,
and insects are also protected from
strong tidal movement.
MANGROVES EXCLUDE SALT,
using their roots to filter out up to
90% of it. If the salt level is still too
high, leaves can quickly excrete salt
or stems can send it to an old leaf,
which will drop off.
SEEDLINGS GROW SHOOTS
and roots while still attached to the
parent tree. They drop off into the
sea with the advantage that they are
ready to start growing the moment
they find a calm, soft-bottomed
place to take root.

PEPPERBERRIES, native to the
cold high country of NSW, Vic and
Tas, come from the plant Mountain
Pepper ( Tasmannia lanceolata ), and
are dried to be used as peppercorns
for seasoning.
COMMERCIAL PLANTATIONS
of Lemon Myrtle ( Backhousia
citriodora ) are grown for oil
extraction. Leaves are cool dried for
powdered food flavouring which has
its own unique lemony taste.
OLD MAN SALTBUSH ( Atriplex
nummularia ) leaves are dried and
flaked for seasoning.
AUSTRALIA HAS ONE Wild
Orange ( Capparis mitchellii ), a green
egg-shaped fruit, flavoured like both
pawpaw and mango.
SIX NATIVE LIMES are found
in Australia — five of them from
rainforests. Lime marmalade and
drinks are made by people who
gather the tiny fruit of Wild Lime
( Eremocitrus glauca ), which grows
in outback Qld, western NSW and
part of the Flinders Ranges, SA.

Text: Cathy Hope. Uncredited photography: Steve Parish

A HARD NUT TO CRACK
Four species of macadamia trees are
endemic to rainforests in Queensland and
New South Wales. Macadamia tetraphylla
is now a rare and endangered tree within
its natural geographic range of less than
100 km.
Macadamia nuts ( right ), as well as being
scrumptious, are a healthy food rich in
iron, calcium, potassium, magnesium and
six vitamins. These cholesterol-free nuts
contain 78% mono-unsaturated oil and are
claimed to have the highest oil content of
any of the world’s nuts. Macadamia nuts
are so hard to crack but nature intended
them to be tough to stop hungry rats and
other animals and beetles eating them.
Over the last few years, 25% of Australia’s

annual crop
has been
sent to China
for the nuts to
be cracked by
hand — then the
kernels are sent back
to Australia.

M.

FA G

G/A

USTR

AN
A LI A N NAT I O N A L B O T

A
IC G

RD

EN

S

Since 2000, the Outback Pride Project, developed by Gayle and Mike Quarmby of
Reedy Creek, SA, is working with twenty Aboriginal communities, including Anangu,
Pitjantjatjara and Yankunytjatjara peoples, to propagate, grow and sell their native food
plants on a commercial scale. With the help of drip feeders to irrigate plantations, the
fruiting season of bush tomato or desert raisin (Solanum centrale ), called “Kutjera” in
Kampurarpa–Pitjantjatjara languages, has been extended to eight months instead of
the two month wild season.

BUSH CUCUMBER ( Cucumis
melo ), the only true melon native
to Australia, belongs to the same
family as rockmelon and cucumber.
It is cultivated for commercial use by
the Nepabunna Community in the
Flinders Ranges, SA.

Outback Pride also assists each community with revegetation plantings of traditional
bush plants for food foraging, and children are encouraged to snack on the ripe fruits.
Many children are eating up to half a kilogram of health-packed Kutjera per week, they
are known to contain the highest levels of anti-oxidants in the plant world and also to
contain high levels of potassium and vitamin C.

More than 800 Australian growers produce
40% of the world’s macadamias. Ranked
second and third are Hawaii then Central
America.

KAKADU PLUM ( Terminalia
ferdinandiana ), the size and shape
of an olive, has the highest vitamin
C content of any fruit globally.

FIGS

Below: Fruit of Desert Raisin (Solanum
centrale) is just one of Australia’s bush
foods enjoyed by Aborigines.

The world has about 1000 species of figs. Most of Australia’s 42 species occur in
rainforests. A unique feature of figs is that the flowers are inside the fruit.

DESERT QUANDONGS — “WILD PEACHES”

Right: Desert Quandong’s species name
Acuminatum comes from its pointed leaves.

THE PEANUT TREE ( Sterculia
quadrifida, below ), native to
Australian and Papua New Guinean
rainforests, has edible black seeds
that taste just like peanuts.

OUTBACK PRIDE PROJECT

Ergon Energy at Gympie in Queensland
has established the world’s first
macadamia power plant, converting 5000
tonnes per year of waste shells from nuts
into enough power for 1200 homes.

Quandong ( Santalum acuminatum ) of arid Australia is a small
desert tree of the sandalwood genus that grows as a semiparasite, taking nutrients from other plants’ roots. The shiny
red fruit look like cherry tomatoes but taste like tart rhubarb
and peach. With a vitamin C content much higher than that
of an orange, these fruit have always been most important for
desert-dwelling Aborigines. Nowadays though, feral camels
are eating so many fruit. Aboriginal people eat quandongs
fresh, when fully ripe, and pound dried flesh into powder for cake
making. Commercial plantations provide fruit for domestic
and international markets.

the
FACTS!

In central Australian arid areas, Native Fig ( Ficus platypoda; “ili” in Anangu language ) is the
second-most important dryland fruit and provides fig feasts for Anangu people in the area.
It flourishes at rocky places such as Uluru, where huge, spreading fig trees grow from rock
crevices where seed has been dropped by animals.

SUN-DRIED TOMATOES
Tomatoes, capsicum, eggplant and potatoes all belong to the Solanaceae family.
Many Solanum species in arid Australia are quite poisonous, but fortunately there are
six edible bush tomatoes that provide sufficient annual pickings for Aboriginal people
who eat the small yellow-green fruit fresh, and also sun-dry any surplus tomatoes.
Bush Tomato ( Solanum chippendalei ) has edible pale-green, golf-ball-sized tomatoes
that taste a little like rockmelon. Fruit of Desert Raisin ( Solanum centrale ) from Central
Australia is collected by Aborigines from the bushes after the sun has dried the fruit.

NATIVE CURRANT ( Acrotriche
depressa , above ) grows in mallee
scrub in SA, WA, and Vic. Fruit
is collected on Kangaroo Island
for commercial production of a
delicious jam.

People are intrigued by the unique flavours of Australian bush foods,
and gradually new taste sensations are appearing on menus across
Australia as more culinary discoveries are made. Australia’s four
largest commercial plantations of endemic plants in order of size
are Macadamia Nuts, Quandongs, Bush Tomatoes and Muntries.
Ethnobotanists specialise in the study of the traditional
knowledge and customs of any Indigenous peoples in
their relationship to plants. Many Australian plants
are edible. The traditional diet of Western Desert
Aboriginal people is 80% plant-based and makes
use of 140 plant species.

MIKE & GAYLE QUARMBY/OUTBACK PRIDE

the
FACTS!

Above, left to right: Fruit of Deciduous Fig ( Ficus superba ); The fruit of this
rainforest tree, Lilly Pilly ( Acmena smithii ) is used to make jams and sauces.

MIKE & GAYLE QUARMBY/OUTBACK PRIDE

CATHY HOPE

— tucker & cuisine

Conservation Watch
Collecting food from the wild is strictly regulated
in Australia. Commercial manufacturers need to
apply for a permit if they wish to collect bush food
from the wild.

Bush Foods

LEFT: IAN MORRIS; RIGHT: CATHY HOPE

Bush Foods

Bush Foods

Further reading

of Australia’s flora

& Australia’s native gardens
GREG HARM/SPP

the
FACTS!
SINCE 1770, 76 plant species are
known to have become Extinct in
Australia — but it is likely that up to
100 may have disappeared. Over
300 more species are seriously at
risk of becoming Extinct.
SHRINKING AND ISOLATED
populations of plants can lead
to “in-breeding” which causes a
declining seed production and loss
of genetic diversity.
THE ACTIONS OF HUMANS in
landscape clearing for agriculture,
mining, forestry, road-making and
urban and industrial development
have caused loss of habitat for
many plant species.
WILD HARVEST for the cut flower
trade has reduced from 50% to
15% during the last 30 years,
which is encouraging. Most native
flowers are now cultivated for this
$30 million export business.
EROSION, SALINITY PROBLEMS,
weed invasion, competition and
disease from introduced flora,
herbicides and insect attack, have
all added to a great environmental
tragedy in this country.
INTRODUCED FERAL ANIMALS
( such as the rabbit ) and grazing by
cattle and sheep have all added to
the destruction of some plants.
LOSS OF SOME insect and bird
pollinators has caused the reduction
in population and range, or even the
Extinction of some plant species.
GLOBAL WARMING is now
the most serious threat to plant
communities in Australia and is
likely to speed up the loss of plant
species.

Text: Cathy Hope. Uncredited photography: Steve Parish

OUR FLORA’S FUTURE

PUBLICATIONS:

Australia has incredible biological wealth and this is recognised internationally. Education
is a key factor in our flora’s future. We need to promote a wider understanding of the
biodiversity and sustainable use of Australian plants in relation to all living creatures. Days
such as World Forestry Day ( 21 March ), World Environment Day ( 5 June ), World Habitat
Day ( 5 October ) and National Tree Planting Day ( held in the last week of July ) all help
bring attention to the plight of plants. Strict quarantine laws monitoring the entry of plant
material and plant-related products into Australia assist biosecurity. Several seedbanks in
Australia act as custodians with their collections of seeds and are important conservation
tools for maintenance of the diversity of flora. Local councils also strictly monitor and
give advice about the type of vegetation to be planted in the locality and permits are
required by private landowners to clear vegetation. Living collections of Australian flora in
our Botanic Gardens are vitally important. National Parks and reserves have a vital role
to play in conserving native plants by protecting and monitoring remnant vegetation and
educating the public in this cause.

Attenborough, David. The Private Life of Plants.
BBC London, 1995

GREENING AUSTRALIA 2020 VISION
Greening Australia is a national project aiming to increase commercial tree crops,
especially eucalypts, to three million hectares by 2020. Results of this work will include:
• less native tree felling from remnant
vegetation;

• conservation, business and
employment opportunities; and

• carbon sequestration;

• throughout this process, land owners
will be encouraged to retain native
vegetation on their properties.

• soil, air and water quality
improvements;
• protection of biodiversity;

SOCIETY FOR GROWING AUSTRALIAN PLANTS
Society for Growing Australian Plants (SGAP) is a national society with membership
groups all over Australia. One of the most important activities of this society is that
members study, photograph, make records of and grow indigenous plants of their own
locality. They are valued educators, passing on their passionate interest and knowledge of
Australian plants through publications, wildflower shows and in local communities. They
have “working bees” to re–establish vegetation in areas of concern.

RARE OR THREATENED AUSTRALIAN PLANTS
Western Australia has more than 45% of Australia’s Rare or Threatened plants.
On 16 July 2000, the Commonwealth Government established the Environment
Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act and began keeping a national list of rare and
threatened plants.
In 1979, researchers established a very comprehensive record of national flora which we
consider to be of present and future concern. The Rare or Threatened Australian Plants
(ROTAP ) list has named 1100 species under threat.
Each State of Australia keeps records of its plants.